New protections for menopausal workers?

At the labour party conference last month, Shadow Equalities Minister Dawn Butler announced plans to introduce new support and protection for Menopausal workers after a CIPD survey found that 60% of menopausal workers reported that their menopause symptoms had an impact on their working lives.

Ms Butler announced that a future labour government would legislate to introduce a right for menopausal workers to work flexibly to help them manage their symptoms and to oblige all employers with more than 250 employees to train all line managers on the effects of the menopause.

The proposals did not include any suggestion that the Menopause will gain "protected characteristic" status under the Equality Act; nor that Menopause will be defined as a disability. However, the Scottish EAT is soon to hear the case of Davis v Scottish Courts and Tribunals  Services in which the Claimant alleges she was unfairly dismissed by the Respondent "in consequence of" her  disability which was, in turn, caused by symptoms of the menopause.